EU warns against easing Covid measures too soon

The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, on Wednesday warned of the risk relaxing efforts in the fight against coronavirus and called for "learning from the summer and not repeating the same mistakes" by removing the restrictions against Covid-19 too soon, reported EFE-EPA..

Speaking to the European Parliament, she noted that last week coronavirus was the leading cause of deaths in Europe, with about 3,000 per day and, although she highlighted the "good news" with developments in vaccines, she also urged people to celebrate "quieter" Christmas holidays than normal.

On the occasion of the International Day of Violence against Women, various studies have been released that show that there has been a sharp increase in domestic violence in several countries during lockdowns this year.

GERMANY

Germany reported a new record number of deaths from Covid-19 on Wednesday, with 410 deaths in 24 hours. The number of new infections in 24 hours was 18,633, according to figures from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI).

Chancellor Angela Merkel will hold another meeting with regional leaders on Wednesday, who have agreed to extend partial lockdown measures in force until December 20 and even to tighten some of them, in order to later ease some of them for the Christmas holidays.

Since November 2, nightlife, gastronomy, cultural and sports activities in enclosed areas have been closed, but school activities and shops have remained open, although with limited capacity. Citizens have been urged to avoid all non-essential travel, both within the country and abroad.

BULGARIA

The Bulgarian government announced Wednesday the closure of all schools and day-care centers, as well as stores selling non-essential goods, in addition to the cancellation of cultural and sports events, in order to curb the Covid-19 pandemic and ease pressure on its hospitals.

These measures come into force at midnight on November 28, and will be in force until December 21, Minister of Health Kostadin Anguelov told a press conference in Sofia, adding that for the time being no curfew is planned.

Pharmacies, banks, post offices, insurance companies, churches and parks will stay open. The new restrictions, approved on Wednesday in a cabinet session in which it was also decided to extend until the state of "extraordinary epidemiological situation" until January 31, have been added to the closure of restaurants and bars, leisure centers and gyms, which have been shut since the end of October.

According to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), Bulgaria, the poorest country in the European Union, currently has the third highest incidence of deaths from Covid-19.

With 18.5 deaths per 100,000 population in the last 14 days, Bulgaria is second only to the Czech Republic (21.5) and Belgium (20.2). In the last 24 hours it has registered 4,382 new infections and 157 deaths.

PORTUGAL

Portugal registered an average of 791 Covid infections per 100,000 inhabitants in the last 15 days, the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control said.

The most affected area of the Portuguese territory is the North. Portugal, which is under a state of alarm (the highest alert level in the country) until December 8, has accumulated 4,056 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic and 268,721 infected, according to the report of the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control.